Irish investigator into disappearance of Madeleine McCann up on U.S fraud charges

An Irish man whose company helped with the investigation into the disappearance of Madeline McCann may be extradited to the United States for a $2.1 million fraud.

Kevin Halligen, of Oakley International, was employed by the McCann family in 2008 when their daughter Madeleine went missing from their vacation apartment in Portugal.

Oakley International was paid about $486,701 for its services over a six-month period.

Later it emerged that the 48-year-old businessman Halligen was wanted in the U.S for defrauding a London firm for $2.1 million.

The firm claims that money taken from a Dutch company, Trafigura, as part of a deal to secure the release of executives under arrest in the Ivory Coast, was instead spent on purchases. These included a mansion and a present for Mr Halligen's girlfriend.

He was arrested on November 24, 2009, at his hotel in Oxford, Britain. He was staying there under an assumed name. His assets have now been frozen.

Halligen is now being remanded in custody and awaits a decision from the Home Secretary Theresa May as to whether the extradition will go ahead.